Hydraulic control system



June 10, 1930.

c. v. FOULDS HYDRAULIC CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Aug. 22, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet v fm aw' A TTORNE YS INVENTOR Char/es [Fall/d6 ,c. v. FOULDS 1,762,813

HYDRAULIC CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Aug. 22, 1927 June 10, 1930.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 0 O O O o N I O INVENTOR: Q O dfbar/esKFEw/ds ATTORNEYS.

June 10, 1930.

C. V. FOULDS HYDRAULIC CONTROL SYSTEM 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 22, 1927 INVENTOR.

ahar/esL Fu/ds BY W A TTORN E Y5.

June 10, 1930.

C.- V. FOUL-D5 HYDRAULIC con'rnon SYSTEM Filed Aug. 22. 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Jaw/52M A TTORN EYS.

Patented June 10, 1930 star's s GHQBDESV; EOULDS'} oFBERKEL-EY,camrormin, irssidlvoa-"rolTHE PEIJToN wAmEia' WHEEL-- COMPANYQl-OF SAN? FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A? CORPORATION-F CALI- FOR'NIA" HYDRAULIC. CONTROL SYSTEM Application filed Ai1g1ist22, 19127., Seria1 N6.214,5 18.

This invention relates generally. to systems for controlling hydraulic flow, and is especially applicable to the" control of? hydraulic turbines. r 5 It is an object of-this invention to devise a hydraulic turbine control'sys'tem adapted to be initiated "by-movement of a single memb'er whereby all functionsnecessaiyfor starting or stopping of the turbine will be automati'call'y. performed,

It is a further object of this invention to utilize a hydraulically aotuated'Va-lve for com trolling admission of' water to a hydraulic turbine, and to correllate the-governor of the 5 turbine with the valve in suchainannen that the governor is conditionedto start and reg- 'ulate the turbine after complete opening'of the valve.

It is a furtheryobject of'this invention to' devise novel means for automatically controlling a bypass about a hydraulic valve;-

It'is a further object'ofTt-his invention to devise novel means for controlling a bypass abouta hydraulicvalve, which will'serve to automatically open the bypass for a substantial time prior to opening ofthe' valve," and which will automatically close the. bypassing the varying pressures" within the pressure-chamberfor controlhnga 'bypass about the-valve: c

Itis a furtherobject ofthisinvention to devise novelf hydraulic control system.

A which-wilLutilize a-main valveadapted to be actuated rby hydraulic piston, movementi of the piston being controlled by an auxiliary'contr'ol'rvalve. r g

-F'urther objects ofthis invention will appear from the following description in which I have set forth the preferred embodiment of my inventi-on. It is to be understood that the-appended claimsare to be" accorded a range of equivalentsconsistent with the state It'is a further object of this invention to Referring to the drawings I F gure 1 1S aslde elevational View ing' diagrammatica'lly; the system of this in-- vention,' certain parts being shown in 'sec-- tion. V v i Fig.2is a cross sectional elevational lview' showing turbine adapted to be" controlled by the system of this invention.

Fig; 3 is a detail oross'sectional VleWShOWf' ing the bypass valve.

Figure 4: is a side elevation of a turbine shown in some detail. in con-junction witli certainother mechanisms which may beema ployech- Figure 5 is a diagrammatic illustration of a form of hydraulic control systeinQ; a

The invent on constitutes a completesys-g tem applicable for-thec' ontrol ofa hydraulic showturbine. However I have incorporated in the system a? number of separatefeatures which, as indicated by.v the appended crat ng;

are capable of broad application The com plete system, 'shown diagrammaticallyt in Figure 5, may be outlinedbriefiy as com prising a'mai-n valve adaptedtocontrol ad mission of. water from a-penstock to a by; This main valve 1s adapted draulic turbine. v to be opened andclosedeby a hydraulic piston; which in turniscontrolledlbymeans of an auxiliary control valve. -The governor of the turbine is cooperatively associated" with the main'valv e so that it iscnot condiai tioned'to start and regulate the turbine-until: a-fter 'the-main valve has been completely opened.- Likewise the governor is caused;

to shut down the turbine when the main valve is started toward closed position;- The; entire system is initiatedlinto operationby, actuatingthe auxiliary controlled valve and for this purpose I preferably utilize electri i cal meanscontrolled from an electricalicir-n cuit. "If this circuit iso penedifor some rea-;

son during'operation ofwthe turbine, either manually or automatically:as-when an'abnor-= Y mal conditlon arises, the-control valveis automatically initiated to closet the main valve and eifct shutting down ofthe tur- For equalizing. pressures upon the main Valve, I utilize a bypass which is-auto= 7 r matically controlled accordin'g' to movement-s bine.

1s provided a suitable mechanism 14 which of the main valve. Preferably the bypass is caused to open a substantial period prior to opening of the main valve so as to completelyfill the outflow side of the conduit with water prior to opening of the main valve. Likewise during closing movement of the main valve the bypass remains open until the valve is Completely closed.

In that embodiment of the invention illusserves tomove control valve 13 into either one of two positions. Associated with the hydraulic mechanism 12 and control valve 13, there is a suitable turbine governor indicated generally at 16 which serves to control a'inechanism such as shown in Figs. 2 and 41.

= The main'valve 1O mayconsist for example of-a valve housing 18 within which is dis-' posed the sliding valve gate 19. The hydraulic actuating mechanism 12 for simplic- 1ty has been-shown as comprismg a double acting piston21 operatively disposed within a cylinder 22, piston 21 being secured to the extended actuatingrod 23 of valve 10. In

that position otthe cylinder 21 and valve shownin the drawing, pressure applied to the upper sideof piston 21 serves to close valvelO, Wllllfl pressure applied to the under side serves to open the valve.

The auxiliary valve 13 may be similar to the'control'valve shown. and described in a co pendin'g application'assigned to the a'ssignee as this application, said application bearing Serial No.204l,997 filed in the joint names of Foulds and Orton, or it may be of a somewhat similar construction arranged as shown in'Fig. 1. 'It may be briefly described as including a ported sleeve 26 fixedly disposed within a valve housing 27. Fitted iwithinthe sleeve'26, there is a cooperating movable" valve member 28. The control valve13'co1nmunicates witha suitable source of liquid under pressure and, depending upon the position. of valve member 28, functions to admit liquid under pressure to the upper side liquid from the other side.

o'fpiston 21 while exhausting liquid from the lower side, or in the other position of control valve 13, to admit liquid under pressure to the lower side of piston 21 while exhausting Asa convenient source of liquid for supplying; to the cylinder 22, I preferably provide a' pipe connection 29 between control valve 13, and the housing lS of the valve 10,

whereby pipe 29 connects to the inflow or pressure side of valve 10. Admission of liquid into the pipe 29 is preferably capable of being controlled by an operator, and for this purpose I have shown an adjustable throttle valve 31. The upper side of cylinder 22 is connected to valve 13 by means of pipe 32, while the lower side of cylinder 22 is connected by means of another pipe 33. For the sake of completeness it may be explained that the control valve illustrated utilizes two sets of ports 36' and 37 in sleeve 26, which are in communication with pipe 33. Likewise two sets of ports 38 and 39 are in communication with pipe 32. The valve member 28 is hollow and is provided with two cooperating sets of ports 41 and 42. When valve member 28 has been moved to one limit of its movement,

as shown in the drawing, pipe 29 is in communication' with pipe 33 thru ports 11, and registering ports 42 and 36. The ends of sleeve 26 are in communication with a common exhaust passage 44, and with the valve member 28 in the above position, pipe 32 is placed in communication with the exhaust passage thru ports 39. Similarly, when valve member 28 moved to its lower limit, pipe 33 is placed in communication with exhaust passage 14, and communication is established between pipes 29 and 32.

Valve member 28 is preferably biased to its lower position, or closing position for the main valve 10. shown a compression spring 46 having its one end bearing upon a member 47 fixed with respect to the control valve housing 27, and having its other end pressing against a member 48, this latter member being carried by a rod as which is extended from and secured to the valve member 28. For optional manual operation of the control valve, the end of rod 49 may be provided with a threaded portion to receive an internally threaded hand wheel 51. By screwing down this hand wheel the valve member 28 may be shifted to the upper limit of its movement.

Instead of operating control valve 13 manually, it is preferably operated by motive means so as to permit control from a remote point. The particular mechanism shown operates satisfactorily although a variety of mechanism may be substituted. As illustrated it comprises a. collapsible linkage which is, operated by an electrical motor to move valve members 28 against the pressure of spring 46, and is provided with an electrical solenoid which serves to collapse the linkage when it is desired to permit control valve 13 to move to closing position. Thus amovable actuating rod 53 has been extended from valve member 28, and has pivotally connected to it the link 5a. A motor operated crank 56 is pivotally connected to link 5% thru another link 57. As a means for driving crank 56 I have shown an electrical motor .58 opera- For this purpose I have Vii tively 1 connected i to crank 56 as: by means of:

reduction gearing; 59; Pivotallymounted;

, upon the shaft of; crankv 56 thereis an arm.-

61.v which; has its upperiend i pivotally;con-- link. 57 as by Mounted stanectedl t'o theupper end of means of anotherlin-k-62.=

tionary :with respect to thecon-troli valve -13,

thereis .aasolenoid i or other magnetio device: 63 1 adapted to 1 control v a" pivotally; mounted trigger 64; Solenoid fi3risvbiase'das'by means lflz ' of spring, 66; so that? when. deenergized" it swings-trigger 64-into disengaging position However: when r solenoid 63 isenergized, trigger 6.4 is 153 swung, into positionto engage pin 67 i and to prevent rotation of. arm I 61 in a. clockwise with a. pin 16.? secured i to arm #61.

direction;

Theelectri cal scircu-it forenergizing motor: 58 and solenoidr63.may includefor example linesL and L which oonnectedxto motor 58 thru ansuitaloler the currentsupply limiting, switch v68: Solenoid 63 is also connected HGIOSStlIG currentisupply lines in series with any DUTHbGIZOf GlGCtlflCflldQVlCQS adapted to openthe energizing circuit to solenoid 63 in .i'esponse to an 2 bnornialoperating. condi-. tion., To indicate the operation of such. de-

vices,.I have-shown a plurality oflrelay switches 69 connected series withcurrent a, supplyli-ne 11 A. manually operated series switch 7l.mayalso the provided.

In. operatingythe: controlvalve 13 so as.

to :open the gate valve 10, the energizing .cir-

cuit ZEOIiIIlOtOI158'lS'ClOSGClSO as to rotate crank.

56 in." a. counterclockwise direction. Links 54LandL57T'are thenstraightened out and pin 67. is. swungv into locking, engagement withtrigger. 64, since tliGSOlIlOldfGg isalso enerlZQCtailtlils: time. When crank 56' swin s b v D event that the energizing circuitis deeneiigized 'solenoid'63'causes tr1gger=64 to release the pin 67,.thus permitting links 54 and 57 55, to collapse and topermit valve member 28 'to 'i "return to original position.

The governor which Iprefer to employ in this system is preferably ofthe type which employs a motive element .for. maintainingaa 6Q..- flu1d. pressure,. and which controls. the admission of] this pressure to -a hydraulic cylinder in accordance with .thespeed of. the cur-- bine; Thehydraulic cylinder in turn open s or. closes thev nozzle valves 1 or other ,water r regulating gdevicesof the turbine. Governors 1 of this kind are well known. in thersart and:-

need not be described :in detail in'rthisi application. The: particular-.: formz off governor? which rwe haveshown utilizes 'ZUSHMLH turbine 7 3 as a motive element for operatin'giailiquid: pump which- :isinconporated; together: with a liquid sum-pgin thegovernor; V Turbinei73i issupplieduvith water from :aisuitable; source of' pressure, under controlof suitabl'eimeanssuch; as aivalve 7 4; As-a source ot pressure;-

watermay be taken from the conduit :w-hich 'main2va'lve'10 is controlling; as: by' meansof: pipe 76 which connects: betweenx the. outflow sidevof-ivalve-10-and-valve-74; and va lv'e 74:: is oonneotediwith turbine 7,3Ethru1pipei 77'. A suitable throttle-valve- 78-smaybe: inserted: in pipe 76= I Y l The: valve 74- controlling; admission, of

water to thergovernor turbine-73 iscontrolled? bymovements of the main gate-valve. To .accomplish this result I haveshown awsleeve '8'1:

having adj ustalole'collars 82'and 83 threaded 1 upon its end"}portions.: Mounted upon the.

headot cylinders 22. (there is a rods84 upon which sleeve 81 is slidably, disposed. The movable/valve memberof valve-=74: is: operatively' connectedto- 'an -arm-86 which in turn lS COIlllGCtCl to the sleeve 81-. Seeure'd-tothe; hydraulic pisto1r21- and extending thruthe.

headofcylinder 22, there is a piston rod 87 which carries an engaging-niember-88. WVhen v v piston21approaches-the upper? limit of its movement, member 88 engages-collar 83 and i moves sleeve SLupwardlyto actuate valve 74 to -establish. communication between pipe .7 6 and 77; thus supplying water under pressure to-the governorturbine73a To insure closingofvalve 74-wh'en the-piston 21 is-started downwardly to closeztlie .-main valve, sleeve; r

'81 is biased toward closing. position as by. meansof compression spring; 89. Water. is, not s'upplied-to the governor turbine-73 until the gate'v-alvehas moved'to full open position-.:andis-automatically shut. off,- when thegate v-alveis moved towardclosed positioni Ashas been previouslyeXpl-ained, the gov--- ernor. turbine 7 3 operates a pump--w1i'ich builds uppressure to actuate aihydraulic p is-- ton. and cylinder mechanism: Admission of" liquid to this hydraulic i mechanism is COD-r trolled by-the-spee'd-of the turbine. There;

foreit isnecessaryg; for the governor turbine 73 to be initiated into operation-in orderwtol condition. the governor: to start the turbine. In Figuresli and-4;.thehydraulio system of the governon has been indicated I generally at--91- .and 'serves to actuate a= rodi'92; Pulley wheeli93 -of the governor. is connected toithe turbine asby-means of-abelt so that aspeed responsive element indicated at 9.5; in the governor is-actuated by the turbine inacc'ordance. with-i its speed. The. speed; respon sive element ris connected to a-suitable valve means- 99 for. controlling. the admission of liquidv from "they governor: pump to the h ydraulic mechanism of the governor which controls the turbine nozzle valve, and the excess of liquid from the hydraulic mechanism to a sump from which the 'pump'may again take it up. V

In-Fig. 2 hydraulic mechanism for the turbine governor has been indicated diagrammatically as comprising a piston 94 operatively disposed within a cylinder 96. Admission or exhaust of liquid, controlled by the speed element of the governor through a valve 99, from either side of piston 9% is secured thru the ports 97 and 98. The piston rod 92-,is operatively connected to a rock shaltlOl, movements of which cause opening or closing of the turbine nozzle valves. For the sake of illustrating a complete installation, I have shown a turbine comprising a bucket wheel 102 operatively disposed with respect to a nozzle valve 103. The movable valve member orneedle 10% of this nozzle is cooperatively connected to rock shaft 101 thru lever 106 and link 107. The flow passage of nozzle 103 is connected directly to the outflow side of the main valve 10, as by means of flange connection 108. Compression spring 109 serves to normally urge the valve member 10% to closedposition. An auxiliary relief nozzle 111 is also provided which is in communication with valve 103. This reliefvalve permits discharge of water-in making sudden decreases in the discharge from nozzle 103, thus preventing water hammer in the penstock and connecting conduits. This relief valve utilizes a movable valve member 112 connected to the lower portion of lever 106 thru a dash-pot coupling 113. This dashpot coupling need not be described in detail but it may be explained that it comprises a piston operating within a hydraulic cylinder, the liquidupon both sides of the piston being bypassed in such a way that sudden movements of the piston carry with it the cylinder, while relative slow movements of the piston may occur independently of the cylinder. Relief nozzle 111 is normally urged to closed position as by means of spring 11 1. When hydraulic piston 9a is suddenly moved to decrease the discharge of liquid thru nozzle 103, coupling 113 functions to open valve 111 for a substantial time period to permit a gradual reduction in the flow occurring from the penstock.

has been explained in application to which reference has previously been made. it is desirable to equalize the pressures upon the gate Valve 10 while it is being opened or closed. Otherwise excessive wear or water hammer would occur and the valve would have a comparatively short life. For this purpose I provide a bypass about the valve 10 so that the conduit between this valve and the turbine nozzle 103 may be filled with liq uid before'opening of the gate valve, and may be kept filled until the gate valve again completely closed. Inthis invention I con pletely fills the pipe connection to the outflow side of valve 10 before this valve is opened, and does not again close until after the valve has been completely closed.

It is obvious that automatic control of the bypass may be obtained a number of different ways, as by means of a direct mechanical connection between the valve operating rod 23 and a valve for controlling the bypass, or by means of an electrically operated valve controlled by contacts which may be closed by movement of rod 23. One simple and effective way which I have devised for effecting this automatic control, consists of a valve 116, adapted to be actuated by fluid pressure. This valve is provided with one passage 117 which is in communication with the inflow side of valve 10, and with another passage 118 connected to pipe 119 which leads to the outflow side of valve 10. The movable valve member 121 is connected to a diflerential area piston 122, adapted to move the valve member 121 to closed position by fluid pressure applied to chamber 123. Communication is established between chamber 123 and the upper portion of hydraulic cylinder 22, as by means 015 pipe 124;.

When the upper portion of hydraulic cylinder 22 being exhausted thruthe control valve 13, as when the main valve 10 is being opened or is in'open position, the pressure in chamber 123 will be insulticient to keep the valve member 121 closed against the pressure upon the inflow side of the valve, so that the )ass will be open at such times. Likewise n the piston 21 is being moved downwardin closing the gate valve 10, throttling of he fluid thru valve 31, prevents the pressure the upper portion of hydraulic cylinder 22 om increasing to a value sufiicient to close l e bypass valve 116. However when piston has reached its lower limit corresponding '0 complete closing of the gate valve, the press'ure'in the upper part of cylinder 22 will at once rise to a sufficiently high value to close valve 116 and thus preventfurther bypassing of liquid. Y

In order to cause the bypass to open and completely fill the outflow pipe section prior to opening of valve 10 I may utilize any one of a number of expedients for retarding opening of the main valve subsequent to initial operation of control valve 13. One way to accomplish this result is explained in application l'lo. 20 1,9597, mentioned above, which utilizes the pressure upon the outflow side of valve 10 for moving piston 21 to open position. Another possible solution is to utilize pneumatic or mechanical time retarding devices for preventing movement of the main gate valve until the bypass has been open sufficiently long to till the outflow pipe section. The arran ement which I have illustrated in the drawing consists in throttling the pipe 29 by means of valve 31, and providing suflicient entrained air below piston 21 so that an operating pressure will not build up below piston 21 for a substantial period after moving the control valve 13. i

Generally it is not necessary to provide positive means for providing such air pockets, although 'I may provide an air pocket 126- upon the under side of piston 21. In practice an operator regulates throttle valve 31 so as to insure complete filling of the outflow pipe section before piston 21 is moved to crack the valve gate 19. For optional manual operation of the bypass valve 116, I have shown a hand wheel 127 having a threaded stem which may be screwed against the piston 122.

The operation of the complete system is as follows: hen it is desired to start a turbine controlled by a system such as described above, the operator closes the electrical circuit connected to lines L and L whereby motor 58 is energized to move control valve 13 to open position. Pipes 32 and 124 are then permitted to exhaust thru passage 44 of" control valve, and bypass valve 116 immediately opens to permit flow of water about the main valve 10. After a lapse of time sufficient to permit complete filling ofthe pipe sect-ion between the main valve and the turbine, pressure below the piston 21 has built up sufficiently to move the main valve toward open position. As piston 21 approaches the upper limit of its movement, engagement of member 88'with collar 83 causes opening of valve 7 1 and thus admits Water under pressure to the governor turbine 73. Building of hydraulic pressure in the governor by actuation of the pump connected to the governor turbine 73 then conditions the governor to start'the turbine into operation by opening the turbine nozzle 103; If an abnormal condition should arise necessitating shutting down of thesystem, or if it is desired to shut down the system by manual operation, the electrical circuit con nected to lines L and L is opened, either by opening of relay devices 69 or manual switch 71, thus deenergizing solenoid 63 and permitting the collapse of links 5% and 57. Communication is then established between pipes 29 and 32 to admit liquid under pres sure above piston 21, while pipe 33 is permitted to exhaust; Piston 21 moves toward closed position at a relatively low rate because of throttling by-valve 31. Throttle valve 31 also permits the pressure above piston 21 to remain relatively low while the piston is in motion, so that bypass valve 116 will remain open while the gate valve is being closed. WVhen the gate valve is completely closed movement of piston 21 is arrested and pressure above it immediately builds up a value suflicient to actuate bypass valve 116 to ;21 is started toward closed position,

' speed of the turbine.

Immediately after piston I zval-ve 74; is actuated to interrupt supplyof water to the governor surface 7 3,1s0 that-the? turbine closed position.

pressureupon=the gate valve 5110i] uDuring normal running ofthe turbine the speed responsive element of: the governor controls the fluid supplied :to .the hydraulic mechanism so .thatthe needle is maintained in, such position as ,will obtain thedesired II claim: I y r r .1. :In ahydraulic turbine controlsystem, a hydraulic turbine, means for governing said turbine,-a main 'valv e for admittingor interrupting flow of water to the turbine, and means correlatedwith movements of the main valve for automatically conditioning the governing means to start the turbine.

2. In a hydraulic turbine control system, a i

hydraulic turbine, means for governing said turbine, a main valve for admitting or interrupting flow of water to the turbine, and means effective only when the main valve is in full open position for automat1cally conditioning the governing means to start the r turbine. l

in a hydraulic turbine control system, a hydraulic turbine adapted to be supplied troni a source 0t water under a pressure head,

a main valve for controlling admission of .,1oo

water to the turbine, means for governing the turbine, and means for automatically rendering the governing means inoperable exceptwhen said main valve is open.

4. In a hydraulic turbine control system,

a hydraulic turbine, means for governing said 7 turbine, a main valve foradmitting or interrupting the flow of water to the turbine said main valve having an actuating member movable from open to closed positions, and means actuated by movement ,ofsaid member to open position to condition said governing means to start the turbine. l

5. lna hydraulic turbine control-system, a main valve for controlling admission of water to the turbine, hydraulic means for actuating said valve, a control valve for controlling movements of theinain valve, said control valve being biased to a position to effect closing of the v I tric circuit cooperably associated with the control valve whereby the control valve retained in a position to open the gate valve when the circuit is closed.

6. In a hydraulic turbine control system, a r main valve for controlling admission of Water to the turbine, hydraulic means foractuating said valve. a control valve for controlling operation of said hydraulic means, electrical main valve, and anel'ecmeans for initiating operation of said control al valve, and meansresponsive to an abnormal operating condition of the power system for rendering said electrical means inoperable.

7. In a hydraulic turbine control system, a turbine adapted to be supplied with Water under pressure, a main valve for controlling admission of Water to the turbine, means for governing the turbine, hydraulic means for opening and closing the main valve, a control valve for controlling said hydraulic means, and means for automatically correlating. movements of the main valve with the governing means whereby the governor is conditioned to control the turbine only after the gate valve has been moved to substantially full open position, whereby starting of the turbine is initiated by operation of the control valve.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

CHARLES V. F OULDS. 

